Thursday, March 22, 2007

The University of Arizona is not planning to ban alcohol, as ASU has done.

Although Arizona State University imposed a ban on alcohol for its sororities and fraternities in an effort to curb their campus crime rate, a similar ban at the UA has never taken place.

However, an alcohol ban on campus is always possible, said Anthony Skevakis, program coordinator for the Dean of Students Office.

"Technically, a ban could happen at any campus anywhere," Skevakis said. "It depends on the amount and type of behavior, but if there is an incident that we need to take action for we absolutely reserve the right to do so."

The ban at ASU, which began last week and will continue throughout the weekend, is the second alcohol ban to occur at ASU in a year, according to The Associated Press. The ban was the result of an increase in violent crimes on campus.[...]"When greeks have any sort of function with alcohol, there are guidelines to follow," said Rhys Williams, president of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and a journalism junior. "If you were to take alcohol away from the greek system with a ban, people will still drink on their own time, which is far more dangerous than drinking at sponsored events."